Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands • Hacker News Board

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#121

Post by rexpop » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:18 PM UTC

pelorat wrote: post #33

[flagged]

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, so it can slow down vital functions leading to loss of consciousness and respiratory depression.

Nicotine is highly addictive and can lead to immediate withdrawal symptoms if usage is abruptly stopped. Short-term side effects include nausea, dizziness, and headaches. Smoking tobacco can also cause respiratory irritation. Long-term use can lead to serious health issues, including various forms of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

Sugar can contribute to metabolic issues such as insulin resistance, which has immediate effects on metabolism and can lead to long-term health problems like type 2 diabetes.

All three substances—tobacco, sugar, and alcohol—have well-documented immediate effects on the body that can range from desirable (e.g., feeling relaxed or euphoric) to harmful (e.g., intoxication, poisoning, or overdose).

But let's focus on sugar for a minute. Research suggests that sugar intake alters composition and function of gut bacteria, which can have a whole host of knock-on effects. Fructose, additionally, drives inflammatory responses throughout the body which stresses all your organ systems. Chronic inflammation promotes heart disease, diabetes, arthritis... you name it. Sugar has links to changes in brain function, increasing risk of depression (this might be due to inflammation[0]) and may contribute to a greater likelihood of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Sugar also raises triglyceride levels, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol profiles. Dietary sugars lead to higher de novo lipogenesis (DNL), increasing risk of cardiovascular disease. An increase in DNL can lead to an overproduction of triglyceride-rich very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particles, which are eventually converted into LDL particles in a process known as "adipose tissue remodeling". The phrase "adipose tissue" should strike fear into your heart, as this is the unsexy "fat" tissue that can lead to stigma and discrimination, negative judgments from others, joint stress, musculoskeletal disorders, and increased risk of injury.

So there's a mountain of evidence that you're wrong about Tobacco, sugar and alcohol.

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#122

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:18 PM UTC

voisin wrote: post #114

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Money is not the issue - getting access to production lines is You don’t think having the heft of the U.S. government behind one of those parties will help with that access?

Do you see the US government wanting to disrupt these industries, many of which are political donors?

> Do you see the US government wanting to disrupt these industries, many of which are political donors?

When the one being disrupted is a European pharma? Yes.

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#123

Post by Fredej » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:18 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #109

Fredej wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are literally buying up as many factories as they are allowed to do. Money is not the issue - getting access to production lines is.

> Money is not the issue - getting access to production lines is You don’t think having the heft of the U.S. government behind one of those parties will help with that access?

What I'm trying to say is that the supply is constrained, not the demand. And the supply of factories themselves are constrained as well. So they need to build more factories, which they are doing at an impressive pace. And for building factories it's similarly not the land or the money or the red tape that's the issue. It's the time to build a factory that's the limiting factor.

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#124

Post by comova » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:18 PM UTC

hi! this is my substack post and new policy org. thanks to whoever posted this. hope you will subscribe!

we are looking for folks with MDs and PhDs or other experience in the field or in EA type writing to join the project. the thesis is that the addiction crisis is solvable if we put sufficient resources into new medication development, including GLP-1 for addiction and powerful non opiate painkillers like the Vertex drug that will be approved early next year.

addiction is the number 1 cause of DALYs in the united states if you include opiates, stimulants, alcohol, and cigarettes.

the right policies can get new treatments to people rapidly without massive public costs and without disrupting incentives. but we're currently on track for at least another decade of massive damage if we don't change things. join the effort!

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#125

Post by mattmaroon » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:18 PM UTC

CPLX wrote: post #86

glp1guide wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are dangers/risks to buying pharmacy compounded semaglutide -- not really a great thing to recommend widely. It's hard to depend on whatever pharmacy people might be able to find locally or through some hopefully trustworthy portal. That said, with China and more notably India entering the GLP1 RA race, there will be much cheaper options very soon, hopefully!

Can you articulate those dangers? Compounding is a well developed means of sourcing drugs and GLP has been around for decades. What specifically should people be mindful of?

There are shady online compounding pharmacies based in other countries and you don’t know what you’re getting, as with any prescription drug. I’m guessing that was he meant.

But from a reputable one regulated by an industrialized nation, it would not be fitting to call them dangerous.

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#126

Post by pixl97 » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:19 PM UTC

makeitdouble wrote: post #102

glp1guide wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey don't worry, your fears are mostly unfounded -- GLP1 Receptor Agonists have been an effective treatment method for type 2 diabetes for a very long time. They're well studied, researched and trialed, at this point, and many side effects are known. I'm a bit biased of course (I do a lot of trying to keep up with the research and effects of GLP1 drugs), but I honestly don't think the weight loss scene has seen somet…

Isn't the worry that Ozempic is only "effective and save" as far as all the other weight loss drugs being utter predatory bullshit ? Last time I looked into it the "loss" is only happening while taking the medication and you get back to normal once you stop, regardless of how long you’ve been taking it. So if stabilizing at a thinner state is your goal, the drug would be mostly useless or you should be ready to take…

I mean come up with a pill that changes your eating habits and doesn't just repress them. Don't think anyone's got close to that yet.

In the meantime overweight people are going to take what they can get.

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#127

Post by voisin » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:19 PM UTC

kgwgk wrote: post #54

jakub_g wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In worst case, Ozempic patents expire in 2031, which is not that far.

The worst case is worse than that: in addition to composition of matter patents there are dosage patents that can be invoked. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/novo-nordisk-patent-sema...

I am not familiar with pharma patents. Are you saying, for example, a 300ml dose could have a patent with different expiry than a 400ml dose?

I could see patenting mechanism of delivery, like injections versus oral, but not the example above.

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#128

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:19 PM UTC

ImPostingOnHN wrote: post #112

umeshunni wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual report (not linked to by CNBC of course) says The potential to deliver “one shot cures” is one of the most attractive aspects of gene therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy and gene editing. However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies, particularly in certain diseases where it is possible to cure a large proportion of the prevalent…

That's the same thing said with more words.

No, it’s saying there is a limited part of the drug market where curing may not be as profitable as maintenance. So they’re trying to find alternate ways of financing that development. For most of pharma, curing is a payday.

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#129

Post by jokethrowaway » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:20 PM UTC

abruzzi wrote: post #97

jncfhnb wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m reminded of the bit in 1984 where they’re trying to remove the pleasure from orgasms. I don’t entirely disagree that this would be good to make accessible but removing the joy from eating is so bleak

It doesn't remove the joy, just the need. The first thing I noticed after starting is I wasn't hungry all the time. That constant sense of hunger made me eat when I didn't need to. Now I can eat a nice meal, but much of the time I don't feel a need to eat, so I don't. Edit just to add that in 10 months I've lost 40lbs and halved my insulin usage. That insulin is the pricy synthetic stuff (Tresiba and Novolog), so the…

You get the same effect when you go zero carbs

Re: Ozempic will disrupt big tobacco, candy companies, and alcohol brands

#130

Post by glp1guide » Sun, Apr 28, 2024, 9:20 PM UTC

makeitdouble wrote: post #102

glp1guide wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey don't worry, your fears are mostly unfounded -- GLP1 Receptor Agonists have been an effective treatment method for type 2 diabetes for a very long time. They're well studied, researched and trialed, at this point, and many side effects are known. I'm a bit biased of course (I do a lot of trying to keep up with the research and effects of GLP1 drugs), but I honestly don't think the weight loss scene has seen somet…

Isn't the worry that Ozempic is only "effective and save" as far as all the other weight loss drugs being utter predatory bullshit ? Last time I looked into it the "loss" is only happening while taking the medication and you get back to normal once you stop, regardless of how long you’ve been taking it. So if stabilizing at a thinner state is your goal, the drug would be mostly useless or you should be ready to take…

> Isn't the worry that Ozempic is only "effective and save" as far as all the other weight loss drugs being utter predatory bullshit ?

Yes, but note that there are other more legitimate alternatives like gastric bypass, etc!

> Last time I looked into it the "loss" is only happening while taking the medication and you get back to normal once you stop, regardless of how long you’ve been taking it. So if stabilizing at a thinner state is your goal, the drug would be mostly useless or you should be ready to take the rest of your life.

This is untrue -- most people do not bounce all the way back to their original weight once they stop, and simply having the space from what seems to anecdotally be quite annoying symptoms ("food noise") might be well worth it.

https://glp1.guide/content/do-people-regain-all-the-weight-l...

> Going only a tad too far, it feels like recomming meth for its energizing and diet effects, that's not something we want at wide scale.

It's absolutely not this -- there are studies and trials on how GLP1 RAs work, their effects, and at this point they are a go-to effective treatment for type 2 diabetes, and the FDA has just approved them for heart disease.

The way they work is not completely known (for example the mental effects seem to be underweighted), but the mechanism of action is completely different a drug like meth.